Not meant to be
by samiksha
Summary: It's just too hard to give-up on a decade of love...but I'll try...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:I do not own Bleach**

_Ah _so we're in the club that means he wants to have sex tonight. We came here together but that doesn't mean we're 'together', and even though I say 'we' there is no we or us, it's just him- Ichigo and me-Rukia. There he goes with someone named Senna –his date/partner/lover/whatever for tonight. When she asks about me, he says 'just a friend'. _Yes _that's what I am to him for the past ten years –just a friend -whom he has sex whenever he wants; and here I am waiting for him to fall in love with me.

But it all ends tonight. I think ten years is long enough to crush anybody's hopes and dreams. Its not like I was waiting for him and did nothing, I told him that I loved him time after time just to get ignored by him. He enjoys all night in the club with random girls and the comes to me late at night just to have sex, as if having sex with random pretty girls wasn't enough. I guess tonight will be different from his routine.

A few years ago I saw that as his commitment towards me, now I just know that he just uses me and throws me away when he's done. Look what I've become-the heiress of Kuchiki Empire -a whore for Ichigo Kurosaki.

It all started when I was 12. I fell in love with him when I didn't even know the meaning of love. The first time I confessed to him was when I was 15. His answer? He laughed his ass off. The first time we had sex was a month after my 17th birthday. It was Valentine's Day and he was upset about something, so I guess for him it was just something to clear his mind. For me it was the best thing in the world. The next day Kaien confessed to me but I turned him down because I thought me and Ichigo were in some kind of relationship. _Oh_ how wrong was I. Ichigo acted as if nothing happened between us. I was heartbroken again. After few days when things went back to normal Ichigo dropped by in my room from the window, for what? -sex. That's when our 'special' friendship started. I never could say no to him because not only was I madly in love with him but I was utterly stupid. Every time we did it I told him how I loved him; his response was always a '_Hmmm' _a way to say that he heard what I said but doesn't want to acknowledge it. I never gave-up on my love for him that is until a week ago.

A week ago Kaien confessed to me again and asked me to marry him. I said I'll think about it. Is it really necessary to think? On one hand its Ichigo who used me and doesn't even want to introduce me as his girlfriend, and on the other hand its Kaien who has been in love with me for the last five years maybe even more and ready to make a commitment. I know how it feels to be unloved and I don't want to do to Kaien what Ichigo has been doing to me all this time–trampling on my heart. So my choice -I accepted Kaien's proposal, I'm going to marry Kaien and leave my hurtful past behind me. I bet Ichigo hasn't even noticed the ring on my ring finger.

_Right, _time to leave for Tokyo. I'm getting married on Valentine's Day. I didn't have the nerve to tell Ichigo about my wedding, it's not like he's going to proclaim his undying love for me. I'm just shielding myself from the hurt and pain I would feel after hearing his uninterested 'Hmmm'. I glance at Ichigo, this may be the last time I see him before I get married. He's busy dancing with Senna. I smile at him. He chooses to ignore me. I feel like crying but the tears have already dried out from all those years of crying alone. I leave the club without him noticing that I left. He has a key to my apartment. Tonight when he goes there he'll find a note on my night stand saying 'Please take your stuff away from my home'. I only wish it was this easy to remove him from my heart. _See you, Ichigo._

As I drive to the airport I think about Kaien. He knows about the 'special' friendship I had with Ichigo. He never blamed me instead he understood how I felt but he also made it clear that I was hurting myself by continuing to hold on to false hope. He said he'll always be there for me and he'll wait for me. What more could I want? I have a man that loves me and I know that one day I'll fall in love with him. Seeing how Ichigo works for the Kuchiki Empire I'll not be able to avoid him but atleast now I'll have Kaien to help me through it. I board the plane. After I land in Tokyo I get a call from Ichigo, this time _I_ chose to ignore him.

Today is the day I get married, I have Inoue, Momo, Rangiku and Tatsuki as my bridesmaids and Kaien has Uryu, Hitsugaya, Renji and Chad as his groomsmen. I'm getting nervous not only because it's my wedding day but also because Ichigo showed-up yesterday. He tried to talk to me but the groomsmen took him away with them and he never came back so I guess what he wanted to tell me wasn't that important. It's time for the ceremony. I take a step towards the altar…happiness here I come.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:I do not own Bleach**

I open my eyes and try to get used to the darkness in the room. Those jerks drugged me; I hope I'm not too late. I see my cellphone next to me; I grab it and see the time. Its 11:59pm 14th Feb, after few seconds the time changes as well as the date. I'm out of time, suddenly a tear rolls down my cheek I guess I lost my chance with her and now she's married to Kaien. Why did it have to be so complicated? She loved me and I loved her so what went wrong? Why did she leave me?

It all started ten years ago. A new girl joined our class she was a little too short for her age but she had beautiful eyes. She sat next to me and used to stare at me most of the time, maybe because of my weird haircolour. She didn't make any friends and during lunch break she used to hang out with a highschooler named Kaien who was 15-16 then. After a few months she became a part of our group consisting of Renji, Uryu, Chad, Toshiro, Momo, Inoue and Tatsuki even Kaien and his friend Rangiku joined our group during lunch. However Rukia kept her distance from me I thought she was afraid of me.

When we started highschool Kaien had already graduated and went to Tokyo. Then one day Rukia confessed to me and being the jerk I was I thought she was kidding and then next thing I knew I was rolling on the floor laughing. Rukia turned and left with tears in her eyes, that's when I knew she was serious. After the guys got the word of it they beat me to pulp (God! They were overprotective of her). Next day Rukia was acting normal. It was evident from her red puffy eyes that she cried a lot atleast it was good that she was talking to me. After that day I couldn't keep my eyes off of her and I knew that I was falling for her hard or maybe I already did.

It was Valentine's Day and Rukia had chocolates for everyone except me; I was disappointed to say the least. I knew she also had three boxes of handmade chocolates, two of those were for her brother and Kaien but who was going to receive the third box? God I was jealous! I went to her house to ask about it. Before I knew what was happening I was kissing her and she wasn't protesting. Her acceptance and my jealousy drove me off the edge and I decided to make her _mine_.

She then handed me the third box of chocolates I was floating on the clouds at the same time I was feeling pretty stupid for getting so worked-up over a box of chocolates. Next day however I couldn't gather the courage to talk to her. I was embarrassed everytime I looked at her which gave the guys including Keigo and Mizuiro a reason to tease me calling Rukia my girlfriend. I felt the need to discuss it with Rukia so I went to her room through the window but instead of talking things out I gave-in to my teenage harmones again and ended up having sex for the second time with her.

I don't know what happened to me after that day but I couldn't keep my hands off her and this continued for years until she suddenly left me without saying anything. When I tried contacting her, she ignored me. I work for the Kuchikis and I heard my colleagues talking about some big wedding of the boss. Then it hit me like a brick in the head that they were talking about Rukia and I knew something was very- very wrong. I knew for fact that Rukia loved me so what happened that made her leave me? And for the second time that day it hit me hard again that everytime Rukia said she loved me, I never said it back…

Why wouldn't she leave me? I'm a jerk, even though I had someone as great as Rukia with me I chased around random girls just for the fun of it. But whatever I did I never cheated on Rukia, I danced and drank with girls but I never had anything physical with them because I knew Rukia was the only one for me. At the end I always returned to her. I knew the fact that my fear of commitment was going to be my downfall.

I had the impression that 'girlfriend' was not the word to describe Rukia, she was more than that. She _is_ my soul, the very basis of my existence. Now that she is gone I feel as if my heart has been ripped out of my chest. I went to meet Rukia a day before her wedding. It wasn't that easy to get to her amidst all that security that was bestowed on her by her brother. Before I could reach her, my so-called friends dragged me out of there for a talk. Those guys certainly have the nerves to drug me and knock me out cold. I can't blame them, after what I've done to Rukia I deserved it.

I don't deserve to be loved by someone like Rukia. All this time I was hurting her but she didn't say a word, she didn't even push me away, she accepted me with all my flaws and weaknesses. What did she get in return? A guy who flirts with other women in front of her. Rukia did the right thing by leaving me, she deserves better and I know that Kaien will be able to make her happy. _Always be happy, Rukia._

_**Should I continue?**_

_**Thxxx wickedsistah1024for the review!  
**_


	3. Chapter 3

It was March and Rukia had been married to Kaien for almost a month. Today Rukia was coming back from their month long holiday and start her work as regional manager of The Kuchiki Group. Kaien was going to join her after he took care of his work in Tokyo branch. They had decided to work in Karakura; close enough to Tokyo and far enough to avoid the hectic life. Rukia's plane landed in Karakura and to her surprise Ichigo was there to receive her.

Ichigo stood fidgeting with his shirt-cuffs, the plane was going to land anytime and he was getting nervous by the minute. He found out about Rukia's schedule from the office. He knew that the meeting between him and Rukia was going to be uncomfortable so he took it upon himself to clear her doubts and free her of any awkwardness. The sooner he did it the better it was, that's why he was standing waiting for her. Ichigo was brought out of his thoughts by a petite raven haired, violet eyed girl or shall he say woman. He approached her with a hint of smile on his face. "Congratulations on your marriage with Kaien, Rukia. Welcome back." He said. And though not entirely comfortable with his presence she smiled back at him. "Thanks Ichigo." She replied.

Ichigo knew he would never be able to get over Rukia but atleast he could try to play that part well. He moved out of her apartment after a week of her marriage. He had gotten himself drunk, sobered-up, kicked himself for being a jerk, and repeated the cycle all over again over a small period of one month. For some it may be less but without Rukia it felt like an eternity to Ichigo. As they were walking to the car he glanced at the women next to him, she looked happy and pleased with her life. He laid eyes upon her ring which he failed to notice previously. It was a pretty ring. He wished it was he who placed that ring on her finger. Aaarghh. Ichigo mentally slapped himself. Somehow he was out of the evil circle of 'revenge against Kaien', 'kill Kaien', 'steal Rukia away from him', 'prove Kaien guilty of infidelity' plans; and now he was falling back into that hell-hole again.

Both of them reached her apartment in no time with Ichigo's reckless driving abilities. He carried her bags to her door and started rummaging his pocket for keys. He took out a key and started to jam into the next door. Rukia was looking at him as if he lost his mind. Did he forget where she lived in just a month? Ichigo looked at her and understood her dilemma. "Oh I moved in next door to you." Rukia rolled her eyes "After all this time of nagging you move next door NOW? I guess I have to get you a house warming gift." Her response made something click in his mind, he told her to go ahead in her apartment and wait for him. After a few minutes he came back with a fairly big gift box. He handed it to Rukia "It's probably too late but this is my gift for your wedding." She opened the box to find a crystal replica of The Taj Mahal- a monument of tragic but eternal love carved in marble. Ichigo's tragic but eternal love for her molded in crystal. Both of them understood the implications of the gift but neither of them wanted to comment on it. Silence fell into the room. He then took her hand in his hand and dropped his key to her apartment in her palm. He turned around and walked out of her home feeling her eyes on his form.

Silence between them was never so uncomfortable.

Rukia sat there staring at the gift. What was he trying to say? Was he trying to tell her that he was in love with her? No that can't be true. If that was the case he would've said something. God! Her head was pounding; she needed a bath to relax her senses. After a few minutes Rukia was sitting in her bathtub thinking about her decision to get married to Kaien. It is true that Kaien loves her; but will she ever be able to return his love with the same passion? Kaien is a good man at heart making it easy for her to fall in love with him. Just one month with him eased her; she no longer felt a painful clenching of her heart when she saw Ichigo. Maybe she already fell out of her love for Ichigo…maybe.

On the other side of the wall Ichigo was in a world of pain. All his hard work to brace his heart had been in vain, just seeing her face had crumbled his resolve. Even acting as if he didn't mind her getting married to someone else was going to be hard. Only God knew how much he was going to suffer by seeing her with Kaien.

**Please be kind and point out the spelling/grammatical mistakes.**

**Also review so that you don't have to read a crappy story.**

**Positive feedback is welcome! **

**The rotten tomatoes will serve as a fertilizer to my imagination, so bombs away!**

**Thank you wickedsistah1024 for pointing out the typos and other errors.**


	4. Chapter 4

Kaien was on his way to Karakura; he was very excited to see Rukia after being apart for one week. He thought of himself as a very lucky guy, after-all he was married to the woman of his dreams. He hoped and wished but never in his wildest dreams did he think that Rukia would marry him. Yes, he knew about her so-called arrangement with Ichigo and he knew that Rukia had some feelings for that guy, so when she agreed to his proposal he was floating on clouds. He'll never know what exactly happened between them and he didn't plan to pry for the information. Nevertheless, one thing was for sure, now that she is with him, he is going to treasure her and never let go of her. Ever.

Kaien had known Rukia for a very long time because their families were very close. She was a very happy-go-lucky child, but her parent's death affected her badly. She cocooned herself away from the world. Occasionally she would open-up to him and pour out her heart in front of him. However, all of this changed when she met Ichigo. Initially she was wary of him, but one day she told him that she was falling for him. It broke my heart to see her fall in love with someone else, but I could see the happiness in her eyes. She was reverting back to the girl I once knew, and even though I wanted to hate Ichigo, I couldn't for the fact that he was the one who was bringing back the life to Rukia's soul-stealing eyes.

Nevertheless as someone said 'All good things come to an end', the happiness in Rukia's eyes began to fade again, and after studying her behaviour, he was pretty sure that the reason was Ichigo. The person who once filled her heart with happiness was now hurting her, and hurting her bad. Kaien knew that it wasn't sensible to poke-around, but it was the only way to keep Rukia from losing herself. He finally found out the truth from her and he was shocked to his core to know that a girl like Rukia would get into such 'relationship' with someone in her life. Moreover, even though he was feeling crushed, he stood like a rock for her to lean on when she felt lost. Before he left, he let her know that her 'relationship' with Ichigo was only going to hurt her and Ichigo was going to walk out of it without any consequences.

What was wrong with that Kurosaki guy? Why was he rejecting Rukia's feelings? Those were the questions that always raged through Kaien's mind. Why would a person in his right mind push-away Rukia? Kaien was brought of his thoughts when the pilot of his personal jet announced their landing in Karakura. Finally, he was about to meet Rukia- his wife. The only thing he was sure of was that Ichigo was one unlucky guy to have let go of Rukia.

Kaien was good-natured, devoted, sensible, handsome, and caring. He was a perfect man, and Ichigo hated him for it; he refused to believe that such a guy could exist in real life. The one up-side to this was him being married to Rukia. A guy like Kaien would never even dream of hurting Rukia.

Watching the same man hugging and kissing Rukia in front of him was heart wrenching. He was trying to get to accept him for Rukia's sake, but the task was getting impossible by the second. They did the whole meet-up when you're not busy, have lunch and dinner together, spend time with each other after work, spend weekends away from home at their holiday home.

Did he not think of the consequences of living next-door to Rukia, whom by the way was married to Kaien, who will kiss her, hug her and do things with her that Ichigo only wished he could do? Watching them together was like watching his fantasy come to life in front of his very eyes. The only difference was that in reality he was replaced by Kaien.

Days quickly flew by and two months later Ichigo-who once had decided to give-up on Rukia, was finding it very hard to follow his resolution. The sight of her smiling at Kaien made him want to selfishly steal her away for himself. Every time he saw her he felt like taking her in his arms and kissing her senseless. It was driving him crazy, therefore, there was only one option left for him, and that was to try his best to win Rukia's love again. Kaien would have to deal with the heart-break after Rukia chose Ichigo over him; afterall Ichigo was the one who loved Rukia the most and he was ready to fight for her. No matter how selfish he sounded, he needed her more than Kaien did.

**I've included a bit of Kaien POV to explain Ichigo and Rukia's relationship from a third-person POV. Hope you don't hate it. It hasn't been proof-read so please bear with me and forgive the mistakes. Also sorry for the Small chapter and the late update.  
**

**Thanks for reading. Please Read & Review.**

**Thanks wickedsistah1024 & KuroKuchiki for your reviews****.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the small chapter, but as I said before, my computer crashed and I lost all my files. I'm writing all the chapters again. I forgot some of the details and I'm wringing my brain for that. I'll upload the next chapter after writing the next few. I've to go through the story once more to preserve the consistency of the matter I've written. **

** So bear with me and don't hate me. I haven't dropped this story. For now I'm trying to appease you with this newly written chapter.**

Many days passed and Ichigo decided to put his plan in action. The 'Get Back Rukia' Plan. Moreover, he had many ideas on how to make or rather remake his mark on Rukia. The best plan was to intrude on the time the newly married couple spent together, if possible get Kaien entirely out of the picture.

Kaien had asked Ichigo to work on an important file for an upcoming project. So now was his chance. He stepped in Kaien's office.

"Hey! This is the file you asked for." Kaien looked-up from his pile of papers, to see Ichigo standing there.

"Hi! Why are you here? You could've send the file at the hands of your secretary. There was no need to deliver it personally." He said looking a bit puzzled.

"I know but I had some free time and also the file is very important, so I thought of giving it to you by myself." Ichigo answered with a shrug.

"Okay then. Thanks, I appreciate it." Kaien said sincerely.

Ichigo kept the file on the table and started some small talk about the company's new projects. Later he left Kaien's office, but not before walking away with the same file hidden safely in his coat.

Kaien and Rukia always met at the tiny café at the corner of the street, for their lunch. Today Ichigo _'accidentally' _met her there. Kaien however, was MIA due to _him _misplacing a very important file. Ichigo knew he was not being fair…but _everything is fair in love and war_… right? His _love_ for Rukia and his undeclared _war_ with Kaien.

"Yo! What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked her looking very confused (as if it wasn't all his doing). Rukia looked at him genuinely surprised.

"Hi Ichigo. I…we always come to this place for lunch, but today Kaien is running a bit late. I'll just get a take-out and visit him in his office. Why are you here?" Meet Kaien in the office? As if. Ichigo was not going to let that happen.

"Hey as long as you are here, would you mind helping me in placing my order?" he said hoping she wouldn't reject him.

"Okay. So what are you in a mood for? Sweet or spicy?" _Yes! She is just too sweet! _Ichigo thought inwardly.

"Sweet, I guess." He replied.

"'kay, then you must try the chocolate croissant they serve here. It is just heavenly."

She knew, he loves chocolate. If Ichigo was the kind of guy to express his emotions outwardly, there would be a huge smile on his face right about now (maybe even jumping in circles around her). Rukia remembered he likes chocolate, which was enough for him to assume that she still cared about him. They spent their lunch together because Kaien called to say that he would not make it. Ichigo's plan was working; even spending a little time with her in the absence of Kaien would allow him to stir-up her emotions, and make her think about him. He just had to make sure to keep them apart, even if it is for just a few minutes.

Thinking back, he couldn't believe the events that happened in Kaien's office today. Even he can't explain how he did what he did. Maybe it was the adrenaline drive. A love struck person can go to ant lengths to achieve his goal. However, was that really the solution?

Ichigo thought, how could a guy like him who never even imagined about falling in love, would be so madly in love with someone? He is so hopeless that he is trying to break-up a marriage. Is he so desperate? Yes he is. He needed Rukia by his side and he needed her badly. Without her there was no happiness in his life, it was like living out a routine of a robot- emotionless and premeditated. There was no spontaneity in his day-to-day life.

It wasn't like he was going to hurt her in the process…okay, maybe just a little, but he was going to make sure that once she was with him, she would never have to face any kind of sadness in her life, ever. He never knew he had this kind of possessive side to his persona. As always, Rukia made him discover emotions he never felt before.

There was something special about Rukia that he always admired. Many girls fawned over him, even Inoue- who was regarded as a divine beauty by everyone, never drew his attention. In Rukia's case it was not just the physical aspect, it was about the completely new sensations she aroused in him, as well. Although, he must admit that there was a time when he thought about her only for bodily pleasure. That thought now made him shiver. He never realized her impact in his life. And when he truly understood what she meant to him, it was already too late. On the other hand, it was never too late to fix something, and he was trying to do just that.

**Please read and review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm trying to be a bit creative to get over my writers block, so help me. You can give me any word or short sentence that I could include in my next chapter (the word/sentence should have some meaning). Also, you can tell me if you want a specific character to say that statement. This applies to all my stories, so if you read my other stories too review that story or send me a PM.**

**The winner get to chose the names for my upcoming chapters or a one-shot that they request.**


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